Dealing With Dragons
by BlackRosary
Summary: Princess Lucy wants more out of life than to be the wife of a boring, proper prince. When faced with marriage, she decides to run away, ending up as a dragon's princess. What could go wrong? Loosely based off the Enchanted Forest Series.
1. In Which Lucy Fails at Being Proper

Dealing with Dragons

In Which Lucy Fails at Being Proper

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Neither Fairy Tail nor the plot of Dealing with Dragons. It is a very good book though and I would recommend reading it.

Author's Note: I wrote this a really longtime ago and just found it. If you have ever read the book you will notice the plot is almost identical and will continue to be so for the next 2 or 3 chapter. Then creative license took over. So ya, you don't need to tell me I already know.

P.S. If you like the story or have anything to say please comment, they make me so happy. If nobody reviews I will assume you hate the story and stop.

…

Heartfillia was a large kingdom to the East of Flamion Valley, where authors were highly respected and the number 12 was very fashionable. The knights of the kingdom kept their armor bright only for show, it had been many generations since a dragon had made its way west.

There was the occasional problem with evil fairy curses and the occasional ogre kidnappings but these were usually sorted out by marriage to the right prince or princess later on. All in all Heartfillia was a rather pleasant and prosperous place.

Lucy hated it.

Lucy was the eldest daughter of the King of Heartfillia and her parents found her rather…trying. Their other two daughters, Juvia and Levy, were perfectly normal princess, with glossy blue hair and maidenly dispositions.

While all were considered to be lovely, Lucy was different from her sisters. Where their hair was blue, hers was golden blonde, and she wore a single ponytail on the side of her head instead of loose like her sisters.

Worst of all she wouldn't stop…growing. Many found her impressive…assets to be overwhelming in…magnitude. It did not fit with the maidenly image her parents were trying to cultivate.

As for her attitude, well, when people were being polite they would say she was spirited. When they were annoyed they would call her a wild, unmanageable, terror.

The king tried his best. He hired the best tutors to teach her the proper ways of a princess. Lessons such as painting, embroidery, dancing, and etiquette.

There was a lot of etiquette.

Etiquette ranged from how to walk with a book on your head, to how low to curtsy to a visiting prince, to how loud it was polite to scream when being carried off by a giant. Heartfillia also had a bit of a giant problem.

Lucy found the business very irritating, but to please her parents she attended the lessons and learned as best she could.

When she couldn't bear the tedium any longer she would sneak down to the armory and bully the Arms Master into lessons on fighting. Soon she found she had great skill with a whip. As time passed Lucy found that her other lessons were becoming more boring as her whip lessons became more frequent.

When she was around twelve Lucy's father found out about the whip lessons and was very displeased.

"Using a whip is not proper behaviour for a princess." He declared sternly.

Lucy put her hands on her hips and scowled.

"Why not?"

"It is simply not done."

Lucy blinked and was silent for a moment.

"I'm a princess aren't I?" She asked finally.

"Yes, of course my daughter," Said the King with relief. He had been expecting an argument from his temperamental daughter.

"Well, I use a whip," Lucy stated in the most matter of fact tones. "So it is done."

"What your father means," Lucy's mother explained, hiding an amused smile, "is that it is not proper."

"Why not?"

"It simply isn't," Her father stated firmly and that was the end of Lucy's whip lessons.

When she was fourteen the queen discovered that Lucy had been making the court mage teach her magic.

"How long has this been going on?" She asked a small smile on her lips.

"Since Father stopped my fencing lessons," Lucy said stubbornly, glaring at the aforementioned man. "I suppose you're going to tell me it's not proper for a princess to learn magic?"

"W-well yes." The king stammered, "I mean no it's not proper behaviour for a princess."

"Nothing interesting seems to be proper." Lucy said before stomping away and that was the end of the magic lessons.

The same thing happened with the Latin lessons from the court author, the cooking lessons from the court chef, the economic lessons from the court treasurer, and the acrobatic lessons from the court jester.

Lucy began to get rather tired of the whole thing.

When she was 16 she called on her fairy godmother, Mirajene. It was a little odd having one's fairy godmother only slightly order then her godchild but beggars can't be choosers.

"Good afternoon Lucy-chan," Mira smiled as she fanned away the pink smoke that always accompanied her appearance.

"I'm so glad to see you Mira-chan." Lucy wailed and threw her arms around the other woman.

"What is the matter?" Mira asked as she patted Lucy gently on the back. "Your summons said it was a matter of utmost importance."

"It is a matter of upmost importance to my life and future happiness," Lucy said seriously.

"Oh Lucy-chan, is it possible you have fallen in love?" Mira clapped her hands excitedly. "Tell me all about him."

"It isn't a him." Lucy sighed. Mira was always a bit fixated on romance.

"Enchanted is he?" Mira didn't even let Lucy finish her sentence. "That is quite common. We will have him fixed up as soon as possible. Is he a frog, or maybe a hedgehog, those are very popular these days."

"No, no, no," Lucy waved her arms, trying to get Mira's attention back on track. "I'm not in love with anyone."

"Then why did you call me here?" Mira asked.

"This," Lucy gestured around her, "the lessons, the rules, the constant need to be proper. I hate it. I don't want to be a princess anymore."

"Oh Lucy-chan," Mira placed a hand on her cheek and sighed pityingly at the girl, "it is your duty. We all have our parts to play. Being a princess is yours. This is just a phase you're going through."

"Have you been talking to my parents?" Lucy asked suspiciously.

Mira shrugged.

"They like to keep me up to date on my godchildren's doings. I'm sorry Lucy-chan but there really is nothing I can do."

Lucy sighed again and said good bye to Mira. Mira glanced back as she left the room; Lucy sat staring sadly out the window. Maybe she couldn't fix Lucy's problem all together, Mira decided, but she could make it more bearable.

A few weeks later Lucy's parents took her to see a tournament in the neighboring kingdom of Wirdabeast. Lucy was suspicions that Mira had been planning something with her parents, but anything was better than the never ending lessons.

She quickly realized this to be a mistake as soon as they arrived.

The king of Wirdabeast had a son, Prince Elfman, some relation to Mira though Lucy never figured out how. He was a tall, muscular man with scar running down his left cheek. The entirety of his duties seemed to be begrudgingly attending to Lucy.

"Isn't he wonderful?" Mira clasped Lucy's hands and beamed.

"I guess…" Lucy said without enthusiasm. "Unfortunately, he seems a little dim. "

"I suppose he is a little…"

"He has a weird sense of humor, he can count the number of books he has read on one hand, he can't talk about anything buy manliness, and half the things he says make no sense. I am so glad we are only staying a few more days because I may end up strangling him."

"But what about the wedding?" Mira blurted out before clasping her hands over her mouth.

"What…wedding?" Lucy asked, ominously quiet.

"It's already all planned out. I heard Father and his majesty ironing out the details yesterday." Mira tried to put on a happy face. "The stipulations, and contracts, and settlements have all been drawn up. They are going to sign up all the papers tomorrow and announce it on Thursday."

"I see." Lucy turned on her heel and marched down the hall, her long skirts swishing behind her.

The king was a little embarrassed that his daughter had found out about his plan, while the queen shot him a glare that promised trouble. He was still very firm about it.

"I was going to tell you both tomorrow," he sighed rubbing his forehead, "when we signed the papers."

"Well, he does seem like a nice enough boy," her mother offered helplessly, "and rather good looking in a rugged sort of way."

"I do not want to marry Prince Elfman." Lucy said firmly.

"I thought it was a good match," The king said frowning, "I thought the size of his kingdom wouldn't matter to you."

"It is the prince I don't like." Lucy thought for a minute. "Anyways it isn't proper. He hasn't saved me from a curse or rescued me from a tower or anything."

"It's a little late to start planning these things now," her father narrowed his eyes, "and since when have you cared about propriety? Proper or not you will marry Prince Elfman three weeks from Thursday."

And that was the end of the conversation.

Lucy decided to try a more direct approach and went looking for Prince Elfman. He was in the training yard, bench-pressing yaks.

"Good morning Lucy-chan," he said cheerfully when he finally noticed her presence, "is there something I can do for you?"

"Yes," Lucy said casually. "You can NOT marry me."

"What?" Elfman asked, thoroughly confused.

"You don't really want to marry me do you?"

"W-well…it's not exactly…what I mean to say is…" Elfman stuttered at Lucy's furious gaze.

"Good," said Lucy, correctly interpreting his muddled reply for a "Hell No", "then tell your father you don't want to marry me."

"Oh no," Elfman waved his hands, "as a man I couldn't do that."

"And why not?" Lucy asked, exasperated.

"Because…because…because men just don't do that. It's not manly. Also, Mira would kill me if I did."

"Then how do you propose you are going to avoid marrying me?" Lucy asked, this time through gritted teeth.

"I guess I won't be able to," Elfman said, after a moment of thought. "Hey, I bet I could pick up that boulder. Because I am a man!"

Sufficiently distracted, Prince Elfman toddled off, leaving Lucy shaking her head in disgust.

Exhausted she wandered out to the castle gardens. It looked like she would have to marry prince Elfman after all.

"I would rather me eaten by a dragon," Lucy muttered aloud.

"That can be arranged." Said a voice from beside her left shoe.

Lucy looked down and saw a small blue cat staring up at her.

"D-did you just talk?"

"There isn't anyone else around." said the cat.

"Eep," said Lucy. She had never seen a talking cat before. "Are you like, an enchanted prince or something?"

"No, I'm a cat." Said the cat, as if it were the most obvious fact in the world.

"I see," said Lucy, though she really didn't.

"Why do you want to be eaten by a dragon?" The cat asked, tilting its head.

"My parents want me to marry Prince Elfman."

"Aye sir," the cat nodded sagely, "getting eaten does seem a lot better. So what are you going to do?"

"I have no idea," Lucy sat down beside the cat and started petting him, which pleased the animal to no end. "I have tried talking to my parents and even Prince Elfman. Nothing worked."

"Your weird," the cat giggled. "I didn't ask what you said, I asked what you're going to do. Talking is a stupid way to solve problems."

"What would you do?"

"Fight him?" the cat guessed.

"No way," Lucy shook her head. "He would snap me like a twig."

"Turn him into a fish?"

"Hmm, I never got that far in my magic lessons. I am a stellar spirit mage after all."

"Nya," The cat turned his wide eyes on Lucy, "can't you do anything?"

"I can curtsy," Lucy snapped, "I know 17 different types of dances, 9 ways to agree with someone without actually promising anything, and 143 embroidery stitches, and I know how to make flaming cherries jubilee."

"Flaming cherries jubilee?" The cat asked thoughtfully.

"Yes, I learned it from the palace chef before my parents made me stop."

The cat stretched and sat up straight.

"I guess you have no other choice. You should run away."

"That," Lucy said dully, "is a very bad idea."

"So you would rather marry Prince Elfman?" Asked the cat. "Do you want my advice or not?"

Lucy nodded hesitantly.

"Go to the main road outside the city. Follow it away from the mountains, eventually you will reach a small fountain made of gold surrounded by trees made of silver with emerald leaves. Go straight past it without stopping and don't talk to anyone who tries to talk to you. Keep walking till you reach a shack, and knock on the door three times, then snap your fingers and go inside. Some people there may be able to help you. Tell them Happy sent you, it might help…or not."

Abruptly two wings sprouted from the cat's back and he took off into the air.

"Thank you," Lucy called belatedly. The cat's advice was really weird.

Lucy stood and made her way back to the castle. She spent the rest of the day being forced into her wedding dress so it could be fitted. By the end of the day she was ready to tear the stupid thing to shreds. The bodice was built either for a smaller woman or to keep her from escaping by asphyxiating her. Lucy was unsure which it was. At dinner she had to sit beside Prince Elfman and listen to his endless stories about manliness.

Lucy was more than ready to take the cat's advice.

As the castle slept Lucy bundled up 5 clean handkerchiefs, her best crown, her whip, and a loaf of bread. With these items in hand she snuck quietly out of the castle.

By morning Lucy was well away from the castle and heading down the road away from the mountains. It was hot and dusty, making Lucy wish she had brought some water instead of only bread. By noon Lucy noticed a small grove of trees that looked like a good place to rest.

As she drew closer Lucy found that the trees were made of fine silver with glistening emerald leaves. In the center of the grove sat a small gold fountain, shadowed by the surrounding trees.

Lucy slowed to a stop and stared longingly at the cool looking water. Just then a voice called out.

"Dear girl, you look so tired and thirsty. Come and sit with me by the fountain."

The voice was so kind Lucy almost stepped off the road, before she remembered the cat's advice. Without a word Lucy turned and hurried down the path.

A little further down the road was a tiny, dilapidated looking shack.

Lucy stared doubtfully at it for a moment before sighing. She really didn't have anything to lose. Brushing off her skirt, and donning her crown, Lucy made her way to the door.

She knocked once, twice, three times, and snapped her fingers, just like the cat had told her to, then pushed the door open and went in.

…

K and that is chapter one. What do you all think should I continue? There will be some Natsu next chapter so be ready 3 TTFN~


	2. In Which Lucy is Nearly Eaten

Dealing With Dragons

In Which Lucy is Nearly Eaten and Makes a Deal

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Neither Fairy Tail nor the plot of Dealing with Dragons. It is a very good book though and I would recommend reading it.

Author's Note: Wow two updates in the same day…I'm on a roll. It's very rare that I update so often but this is kinda fun. I'm not totally sure where the plot is headed but it is sure to be fun. Remember reviews=very happy author=frequent updates. I accept creative criticism but flames will be fed to Natsu.

…

Inside the shack was dark and dry but warm, like napping on a rock in the sunshine. Strangely no lights from outside made their way in so the room was entirely dark. She was standing just in front of the door when someone said irritably.

"Is THIS the princess we've been waiting for?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Another voice snapped. The voice was deep and rumbly.

"I'm…I'm Princess Lucy of Heartfillia," Lucy stammered, uncomfortable that she couldn't see who she was speaking to. "A cat named Happy said you could help me."

"Help her?" The first voice snorted "I say we should eat her."

Lucy began to shiver, wondering if the voices belonged to some manner of man eating beast and whether she could sneak out the door before they came to a decision on whether to eat her or not. She slid a hand behind her back and groped around for the door knob. Only to find, to her great alarm that there was no door, merely solid rock.

Then a third voice said, "Shut up Laxus, let's hear what she's got to say first."

So Lucy took a deep breath and began to explain. She explained about the lesson, the whips, and the Latin, and the cooking, and the magic, and the acrobatics, and all the other things proper princesses should not do. Finally she explained to the voices that she had run away to avoid marrying Prince Elfman of Wirdabeast.

"Well, what would you like us to do about it?" A soft voice asked, almost kindly.

"I'm not really sure," Lucy scratched her head in embarrassment, "but I would really prefer not to be eaten. I can't even see who you are; it's really dark in here."

"I can fix that." One of the voices said and a small ball of flames appeared, hovering over Lucy's head.

Lucy took an unconscious step backwards into the wall, which was good because she would have collapsed to her knees otherwise.

The voices belonged to dragons.

Five of them lay on or curled around the many rocks and columns that filled the cave where Lucy stood. There were 3 males; all had short stubby horns on the sides of their heads. The female dragon, who was much older if the length of her horns was anything to go by, had three, one on either side and one in the middle of her forehead. The last dragon was very young, it had no horns at all, but it had curious eyes as it stared silently at Lucy.

Lucy was very scared. Even the smallest dragon was at least two feet taller than her. There was also an overwhelming amount of shining scales and glinting teeth. Meeting dragons in real life was very different then reading about them in books, Lucy realized.

Was it really better to be eaten by these creatures then marry Prince Elfman?

"Well?" One of the male dragons asked. "What do you want from us?"

He took a step closer and Lucy wished she had more room to back up. The dragon had deep black and red scales, his horns were bright pink but his lizard eyes were black as night. Slowly, he leaned his large head closer and sniffed curiously.

Lucy noticed what appeared to be a massive white muffler wrapped around his neck. Had she not been so terrified Lucy might have inquired as to why a dragon needed a scarf but she was rather incapable of speech for the moment.

"I-I," Lucy stuttered, and then stopped. She had an idea, a risky idea, but an idea none the less. "Dragons like princesses right?"

The dragon moved his head back and tilted it curiously.

One of the other dragons, a male with metallic scales and bumps on his snout smiled a terrible toothy smile, and licked his lips.

"We sure do."

"I mean I've heard that dragons sometimes keep princess. You know for cooking and cleaning and stuff."

Lucy really had no idea what captive princesses did but the red and black dragon seemed to perk up at the mention of food. One of the other dragons, the last male was a bright yellow with a jagged scar down his right eye, snarled irritably.

"Let's just eat her. She seems like too much trouble."

Before anyone could answer there was a loud rumbling and the sound of scales on stone. Suddenly a sixth dragon appeared. His scales were pure white, though a little grey around the edges, and he appeared to be the oldest one there.

"Hello everyone," The white dragon started hacking piteously, "sorry I'm late. I had a little trouble on the way here."

"What happened?" The female dragon asked, folding its clawed paws.

"I ran into a dark wizard." *Achoo* "I had to eat him." *Hack Hack Achoo* "Now look at me."

Every time the white dragon sneezed he grew a little bigger. The female dragon sighed and shook her head.

"Again Makarov? You have to calm down, you're just making it worse."

"Calm down?" Makarov wailed. "I'm going to sneeze myself to death. Then you'll be sorry Grandeeney."

Makarov sniffled piteously.

"Does anyone have a handkerchief?"

"Here," said Lucy holding one of the ones she had brought.

She was no longer so scared. This dragon reminded her of the librarian of Heartfillia castle whom she liked very much.

"Oh, thank you little girl," Makarov took the handkerchief carefully form Lucy, using two claws to pick it up.

He dried his leaking eyes and blew his nose loudly. Much to his dismay the handkerchief did not appreciate the stress and promptly went to pieces. Makarov went through two more handkerchiefs before he managed to control his sneezing.

"That's better," He said with a sigh of relief. "And what's your name missy? Someone's new princess I suspect."

"We were just talking about it when you came in Jii-san." Said the red and black dragon before turning to Lucy. "You were saying something about food?"

"Could I do that for one of you for a while?"

This time the red and black dragon smiled a toothy grin and Lucy swallowed hard.

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Because then I wouldn't have to go home and marry Prince Elfman. Being a dragon's princess is perfectly acceptable so even my parents couldn't complain. Anything is better the all those embroidery lessons."

Snorting, choking noises could be heard throughout the cavern. Lucy froze for a moment until she realized the dragons were laughing.

"This is stupid," snarled the yellow dragon.

"Why?" the red and black dragon asked, genuinely curious.

"What kind of princess volunteers to be kidnapped? A stupid one, that's who."

"You're just pissed because your last four princesses ran off with their princes within the week." The metallic dragon said picking at his teeth with a sharp claw.

"Ya, Laxus stop being such a wimp," The red and black dragon chimed in, eager to be part of the argument. "What else are we going to do with her?"

"Eat her?" The metal dragon supplied helpfully, in a bored tone.

"I'm telling you, no proper princess would come out looking for dragons." Laxus snapped, his tail swishing angrily.

Lucy had had enough of the yellow dragon. No longer afraid, she planted her hands on her hips and glared fiercely at him.

"I guess I'm not a proper princess then. I make flaming cherries jubilee, I volunteer for dragons, and I can do four back flips in a row. So there."

"See," Laxus smirked, "who would want a princess like that?"

The red and black dragon looked contemplative for a moment.

"I would." He said finally, an innocent smile on his face.

"You can't be serious." Laxus said flatly.

"I am," said the red dragon confidently. "She says she can cook and even though she looks weird she seems funny enough. Besides, Igneel is always complaining about how messy my caves are. If I don't get someone to clean it for me I'll have to do it myself."

"You should give her a trial run," Grandeeney said.

"This is so stupid," Laxus snorted. "Just to get out of cleaning you would take on this blonde haired, balloon-chested, mouthy little…"

"Hey Laxus," The red and black dragon snapped, "Watch your mouth when you're talking about MY princess."

He smiled fiercely.

"She seems like a nice little girl," Makarov said, nodding approvingly. "She's got enough sense; maybe she can keep you out of trouble."

The metal dragon snorted.

"Doubt it."

Laxus looked around but saw he was getting no support from the other dragons.

"Whatever." With an angry flick of his tail he was gone.

"I'm sorry about my grandson." Makarov said to Lucy. "He is a little temperamental but he's a good kid really."

Somehow Lucy doubted that, but nodded anyways.

"Come on," The red and black dragon called, "I'll show you to your new home."

Lucy followed the dragon through the cave and down a tunnel. The ball of fire followed, much to her relief. It would be very bad manners to tread on the dragon's tail, even by accident.

"I'm sorry," Lucy said breaking the silence, "but I didn't catch your name."

"Oh ya," The dragon said casually, "it's Natsu and yours is Luigi."

"Um no," Lucy sweat-dropped, "its Lucy."

"Oh…okay."

Natsu led Lucy through a long maze of tunnels and finally stopped at a larger cave.

"Here we are." He said, with a grand wave of his head.

"Natsu!" a high pitched voice cried and a small blue blur streaked from the shadows.

"Hey, Happy," Natsu said to the small blue cat perched on his head.

"Who's that?"

Lucy sweat-dropped again as the cat stared at her.

"I'm Princess Lucy," She said curtsying, "we met at the palace remember?"

She sighed at the cat's blank look.

"Lucy is here to cook for us." Natsu said cheerfully, mouth already watering at the thought of food. Using his head he gestured towards a small door. "That can be your room. I think the last princess who stayed there left most of the furniture."

"Thank you," Lucy said. "So…what am I supposed to do? What is a princess' job?"

"I don't know." Natsu gave a dragonish shrug. "I've never had one before."

"Let's dress her up in a maid's outfit." Happy chipped in.

Lucy sent him such a glare the cat hid behind Natsu's head.

"Scary!"

"I guess you'll cook for us and you can help me keep my cave clean. I have got a lot of junk though." Natsu nodded towards a dark room. "We can get started in there. Some of the stuff needs to be fixed and a few of the suits of armor are missing bits. Then you can polish some of the swords."

Looking around the room Lucy's jaw dropped in horror. To say the room was a mess was an understatement. Miscellaneous pieces of treasure were piled so high it was hard to see the ceiling.

"Once we finish here I'll show you the library," Natsu continued. "I don't like reading much but some of the pictures are kind of cool and I have a bunch of magic books. As for the rest…"

Natsu gave another dragonish shrug.

"I'll think of stuff as we go."

Lucy could do nothing but nod dumbly. It was either this or marriage. Still it sounded kind of fun and Lucy knew she was bound to learn some interesting things.

"I wish I could take a bath," Lucy said idly, not realizing she was speaking aloud. "I feel gross from all that walking and sweating."

"Why don't you just lick yourself?" Happy offered. "That's how I get clean."

"Ewwww."

"Human women like to be clean?" Natsu said tilting his head. "There is a hot spring just past that door. You can use it to wash up if you want."

Lucy needed no more prompting and took off towards the door. It was huge but surprisingly easy to move. Seeing the enormous hot spring laid out in front of her Lucy cried tears of joy. She was going to love living here.

Lounging in the water Lucy felt happier then she had in a long time. She was not going to have to marry Prince Elfman and sorting a dragon's treasure was sure to be an adventure. Maybe she could even persuade Natsu to let her play with the magic books. Even her parents would be happy because for the first time in her life Lucy was doing something princessly, or so they would think.

When she finished washing Lucy looked around for some towels and was dismayed to find the smallest one was the size of a large blanket. Unable to find anything else, yet reluctant to put on her dirty dress, Lucy wrapped herself as best she could. The result was a formless draping toga creation that dragged across the floor when she walked.

Lucy peeked out the door to see if the coast was clear. Neither Natsu or Happy were in sight. Quickly she darted into her designated room and slammed the door shut. She was surprised and pleased to find that not only did she have one room, but three. They were furnished in a kind of cozy mismatched way that indicated multiple occupants. Everything seemed to be in a different style and from a different period.

They were far too small for a dragon to fit in and later, when she asked Natsu about it he said they had been there since before he moved in and mentioned something to do with dwarves. In the corner of her sleeping room was a large wooden closet. Though worn, the intricate design was still visible.

Opening the doors hopefully Lucy was very disappointed to find the closet empty. Closing them again she muttered aloud.

"I wish I had some clothes to change into."

There was a strange sound and the faint smell of fresh leaves emanated from the closet. Curiously Lucy opened the closet again to find it full of dresses.

They were not in a style or length that befitted a princess, but this only made Lucy even more pleased. Selecting one that was blue and white, she was even more astonished to find the dresses to her exact measurements. In the drawer below she found matching slippers in exactly her size.

Lucy pondered the mystery for a moment then decided it must be a magic closet and that was that.

Fully dressed and pleasantly clean, Lucy went in search on Natsu.

She found him sprawled out on the floor, snoring heavily along with Happy, who was curled up on his head. Despite his originally fearsome impression Lucy found the massive creature a little cute. Patting him gently on the nose Lucy wandered off to find the kitchen.

Natsu would probably be hungry when he woke up.

…

K that is chapter 2. Go Me! If you like it then tell me or I'll just work on one of the other like 7 stories I have going (I'm not very good at finishing things I start). I hoped you like it and yes Natsu is a dragon and so is Makarov because Laxus is a dragon and if Laxus is a dragon then his grandfather would have to be a dragon too. Logic people, logic. Anyways there is plenty more adventure to come. TTFN~


	3. In Which Lucy Gets Unexpected Visitors

Dealing With Dragons

In Which Lucy Gets Unexpected Visitors

Disclaimer: Trala, you know the drill. I own nothing. Neither Fairy Tail nor the plot of Dealing with Dragons. It is a very good book though and I would recommend reading it.

Author's Note: I don't know what to say. I am so happy for the reviews I have received. They always brighten my day. Some of you asked whether Natsu will remain a dragon and my answer is…if I told you that would kinda ruin the story wouldn't it? 'nyways a familiar face makes a cameo. Hope you like it and remember Review my pretties, REVIEW!...Please (see I said please)

…

Lucy settled in very quickly in the days to follow and spent much time learning how to navigate the caves. She quickly realized that the cavernous hallways were actually intricate underground tunnels that connected the caves owned by various dragons. It was more of an underground city than anything else.

Natsu's section of the caves was fairly large. In addition to the kitchen, he had a sleeping cavern, four enormous treasure rooms, two even bigger storage room, a library, and a large bare cave for eating and visiting with dragons. All this, in addition to Lucy's rooms and the private hot spring.

One of the first things Lucy noticed was that the scent of dragon pervaded every corner of the caves. It didn't smell bad so much as it was overpowering. It smelled like pine smoke, cinnamon, and something completely unidentifiable. Almost immediately she set about airing the place out, such stale air couldn't be healthy she decided.

By the end of the first week Lucy was confident enough to present a list of items she required to Natsu. It consisted of new bedding and pillows (the old ones were ancient and dusty), human sized towels (the wardrobe couldn't seem to produce them), and some inks and paper (she wanted to record her adventure for posterity of nothing else).

Lucy then presented him with a second list of items she needed for the kitchen. The last princess, whom Lucy was beginning to think very poorly of, had managed with only a single, dented, frying pan with a wobbly handle, a cracked wooden mixing bowl, a rusty tea kettle, and an assortment of chipped and bent dishes and cutlery.

Natsu seemed happy enough to fulfill her request as long as he kept getting good food, and the next day Lucy had everything she had asked for. There were a few missing pieces but they were rather exotic like bunt cake pans and the like.

This made the cooking much easier and gave Lucy much more time to peruse the massive library and sort Natsu's treasure.

It was just as disorganized as Natsu had told her. Putting it in order was a major task. Some items were more troublesome then others. Rings for example, it was very difficult to tell sometimes what exactly a ring did. She also knew better then to try them on. They might be helpful, like granting invisibility, but it might also turn you into a frog. The items she was unsure of, Lucy piled in the corner.

There was a large amount of treasure to be sorted. Most of it was found in the room Natsu had shown Lucy when she first arrived, heaped in an untidy pile of crowns, rings, jewels, swords, and coins.

This did not stop Lucy from finding things in odd places. There was a large jeweled mirror under her bed, a necklace entirely made of opal sitting on the reading desk in the library, and two small knives in an old shoe behind the stove.

Lucy merely collected these things along with the others she found scattered in the halls and put them back in the storerooms where they belonged. Dragons and cats, or at least Natsu and Happy, were not very tidy creatures.

The first of the knights arrived at the end of the second week. Lucy had been reassembling a suit of armor; Natsu had been right about them missing pieces. Not only that they were rusty and required polishing.

She was polishing the last bits of rust from an enormous and wickedly sharp broadsword when she heard someone calling from the mouth of the cave. Feeling irritated that someone dare interrupt her work, Lucy rose and, carrying the sword, went to see who it was.

As she got closer Lucy was able to make out the words, whoever it was, was shouting.

"Come on out and fight you cowardly flame head. I know you've got Princess Lucy of Heartfillia in there."

"What the hell?" Lucy muttered and marched over to him. "Hey you!"

As she came out into the sunlight she ducked with a squeal as a spear went flying over her head.

"Stop it you idiot." Lucy shouted. "I'm Princess Lucy."

"You…you are? Are you sure…I mean…"

Lucy, feeling it was safe, raised her head and squinted. It was early and the morning sun was at the strangers back, giving only a vague silhouette.

"Of course I'm sure. What do you want a letter of reference? My birth certificate maybe? Now get over here so I can see you."

The figure moved to the side and Lucy was able to see he was a knight in shining armor. Well, half-armor to be precise. The knight appeared to have lost the upper part of his armor, along with his shoes and helmet.

Lucy wondered briefly where in the world they had gone and why he hadn't made the journey on horseback. She decided not to ask.

Lucy took in his dark hair and lazy expression. He was handsome enough Lucy supposed but he seemed to be studying Lucy with a look of puzzlement.

"Can I help you?" Lucy asked after a few moments of silence.

"Well if you are Princess Lucy," the knight said doubtfully. "Then I, Sir Grey of Icetania, have come to rescue you…or something."

Lucy leaned heavily on the broadsword and sighed.

"I figure that's why you're here, but you came here for nothing. I don't want to be rescued. Thanks anyways."

"You don't want to be rescued?" Grey managed to sound both bored and incredulous. "Princesses always want to be…"

"No they don't!" Lucy said firmly. She recognized this as the beginning of a familiar argument.

"Even if I did want to be rescue you're doing it all wrong."

"What?" said the knight, slight interest on his face. "Why do you say that?"

"Running around shouting 'come out and fight' is ridiculous. It sounds more like a kinder gardener then a knight." Lucy said matter-of-factly. "No self-respecting person, dragon or not, would answer to something like that. Try to have some dignity would you?"

"Oh," Grey sounded very confused. "What should I have said then?"

"Well, 'stand forth and do battle' is usually the standard challenge," Lucy said authoritatively, "but it doesn't have to be exact as long as it's formal. You're kind of new at this aren't you?"

"Saving you was supposed to be my first real quest," Grey said with a shrug. "Are you sure you don't want to be rescued?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Why not?" Grey seemed actually interested in the answer so Lucy thought seriously about it for a moment.

"I like living with Natsu and Happy," Lucy said finally. "I like reading books, and polishing swords, and making flaming cherries jubilee. Here I can do all that stuff without people nagging me about being proper like they did back home."

"I heard a little about that," Grey said with a chuckle, "whip lessons wasn't it? I really don't pay that much attention to gossip."

"Oh, the whip lessons were just the start," Lucy said with a grin. "So you can see why I would be happy being a dragon's princess?"

"I guess," Grey said resignedly. "Where is your dragon anyways?"

"Natsu's not my dragon," Lacy said calmly, "I'm his princess. It's a hierarchical thing, if you get mixed up with that then you'll be bound to get in trouble in the future. Dragons can be really picky about things like that. Anyway Natsu and Happy went to borrow a crepe pan from a witch he knows."

"He what?"

"He's gone to borrow a crepe pan," Lucy said a little louder. "You might want to get your ears checked. Jousting with an improper helmet can lead to hearing loss that, if not treated, will get worse over time."

"I heard you just fine but what would a dragon want with a crepe pan?"

"Well of course Natsu doesn't want it," Lucy was beginning to get exasperated. "I do. I found a really good recipe in the library and promised Natsu I would make it for him if he got me the right pan. The kitchen just isn't equipped to handle really complex cooking. Happy could live on fish for the rest of his life but I won't. Natsu promised to get it fixed but for now we need to borrow things like crepe pans and soufflé dishes."

"You really do like it here," Grey was clearly astonished. "You're really weird for a princess."

"I get that a lot," Lucy replied. "How did you even know I was here?"

"This kind of news spreads fast," said Grey vaguely. "Actually, I had to hurry so I could be the first one here. Your father promised half of Heartfillia and your hand in marriage to anyone who could save you. A reward like that is enough to tempt even guys like me who wouldn't normally bother with this sort of thing."

"Half the kingdom," Lucy paled visibly, "that is more than both my sisters' dowries combined."

"It's pretty standard for cases like this."

"Of course it is." Lucy sighed, disgusted. "At least now you can go down and tell everyone that I don't want to be rescued."

"Sorry Princess, but I can't do that," Grey's face was serious. "If people found out that not only did I not slay the dragon but that the princess didn't even want to rescued by me…Well, my reputation would be shot."

"I understand."

Lucy bade Grey a polite goodbye as he made his way down the mountain. As an afterthought she called after him.

"Sir Grey, about your armor…"

"Damn it, not again!"

As he passed out of sight Lucy turned and stomped back into the caves. After a few hours of reading she felt much less likely to hit someone.

There were two knights the next day and four more the day after that. On the fourth day there was only one, but he was so stubborn that it took two hours for Lucy to convince him that, no, she did not want to be rescued. Yes, she was sure. Not even a little bit.

By then she was just about fed up and seriously considered letting Natsu take care of the knights but thought better of it. The knights would attack Natsu on sight and he would of course fight back. Eventually someone would get hurt and Lucy would be damned if anyone got injured trying to rescue her. Especially, since she didn't want to be rescued.

So she decided with a sigh that she would take care of the knights from now on. At least as long as Natsu would let her, he did really love to fight.

Prince Elfman showed up at the end of the third week. He was limping a little, and sweating a lot. He stopped and struck a dramatic pose, his finger pointing towards the sky. In a loud voice he issued the usual challenge.

Lucy was not in a mood to be impressed, and even is she was Elfman was not very impressive. His armor had gaps at the knees and elbows where it didn't fit right. His head was entirely bare, which Lucy considered rather stupid. When fighting a dragon you want all the protection you can get.

"Your late," She remarked idly, examining her cuticles. "There have already been 8 other knights already."

"Only 8?" Prince Elfman looked very disappointed. "I thought there would have been at least 12. I'll come back later."

Lucy blinked at him.

"Why the hell would you do that?"

"It's not manly. A true man wouldn't think about defeating a dragon that hasn't beaten at least 15 people. I don't want to risk waiting too long but 8 just isn't enough."

"So," Lucy said disbelievingly, "you are going to go away and wait until Natsu has defeated 15 knights before you will come back to rescue me?"

Truly the depths of his idiocy were boundless, Lucy decided.

"Well, if you really want me to…" Prince Elfman said hesitantly. "It really wouldn't be manly though. I'm sure you won't be waiting long…"

He trailed off and looked at Lucy hopefully.

"Actually it will be a very long time," Lucy said smugly. "Natsu hasn't actually fought anybody."

"But you said there were 8?"

"I said there have been 8 knights. I didn't say Natsu fought them." Lucy shrugged, the smug smile still on her face. "I sent them away."

"You sent them away?" Prince Elfman repeated, plainly horrified.

"I sure did," Lucy smiled sweetly, "and I intend to keep on doing it so go home and warn all your helmet-headed buddies. They would feel really stupid if they came all the way into the mountains to come rescue me, only to turn around and go back home without doing anything."

"W-why would you do that? Don't you want to be rescued?"

"No I don't!" snapped Lucy. She had completely lost patience with this man. "I am getting really tired of always being bothered while I'm trying to work. So take a hint and GO AWAY!"

"You don't mean that," Prince Elfman said reproachfully, "besides everyone expects me to rescue you."

"Well that's just tough magic beans for you isn't it. Now I'm going to make dinner."

Before Prince Elfman could answer Lucy tuned on her heel and marched back into the cave. She really hoped Prince Elfman would take the hint and leave or she really would let Natsu eat him.

…

Bwahaha it is done. So what did you think? I hope I did Grey okay I wanted to make sure he stays in character. There will be more Lucy/Natsu interaction next chapter I think. So ya if you like it then please tell me. Reviews are my lifeblood. TTFN~


	4. In Which Lucy Meets a Witch and a Wizard

Dealing with Dragons

In Which Lucy Meets a Witch and a Wizard

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Neither Fairy Tail nor the plot of Dealing with Dragons. It is a very good book though and I would recommend reading it.

Author's Note: Hullo again people. I'm glad so many people like this story because, to be honest, I was kinda writing it under the assumption that no one else would want to read. So when people said they liked it I thought to myself. S**t I gotta give this thing a plot! So this may be the first story that I start and actually finish. As for my grammar ^.^* weeell I kinda suck at that and I have no beta for this story so if you notice anything glaring PM me and I'll try to fix it.

I got one review asking me to make it more funny. I'll give it a go but it may take a while. I got another asking if the little dragon was Wendy and yes it was. She will show up again later. As for DragonNatsu that's a secret (Shhhhh!) I love all the reviews by the way they make me explode with happiness!

So keep on reviewing because it makes me so happy. I love input and will try to take it into consideration when writing though it may not be immediate. K enough talking on with the story!

…

Inside the cave Natsu lay sprawled across his sleeping chamber floor, arguing with Happy.

"We should have fish for dinner." Happy proclaimed, raising his fist with enthusiasm.

"No way," Natsu shook his scaly head, "I want hamburger for dinner. We had fish yesterday."

Looking over at Lucy, Natsu noticed her tense shoulders and clenched fists.

"Something wrong Lucy?" he asked.

Lucy shook her head and tried to put on a cheerful smile but it was strained. Eventually she gave up and let the smile drop, nodding.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Natsu asked and Happy nodded in agreement.

"Talking about your problems is the best. Like when you were going to marry Prince Elfman."

"So you do remember." Lucy accused.

Happy didn't reply but merely stuck out his tongue playfully.

With Natsu still looking expectantly at her, Lucy had no choice but to plop down on the ground beside him. Leaning against his side was extremely relaxing. Heat seemed to radiate outwards from beneath his scales, which were very smooth. Almost immediately Lucy found tense muscles loosening.

"These princes are becoming a real nuisance," She said with a sigh. "I send them away but more just come in their place."

Natsu looked pensive for a moment.

"You must really hate princes." He said finally, but Lucy shook her head.

"I don't hate them at all." Lucy laid her head back and closed her eyes. "I'm just very tired of being treated like some sort of prize. When princes come to rescue me, they aren't coming for me really. They are coming for the land and wealth and prestige saving me will bring. They expect a pretty, docile maiden for a wife and I refuse to pretend to be that for anyone."

"They're idiots then," Natsu said matter-of-factly. "If they want a princess like that then they shouldn't marry you."

Lucy opened her eyes and glanced up at Natsu, irritated. She was well aware of how unprincessly she was but did not wish to be reminded of it by him.

"I mean," Natsu continued, oblivious to Lucy's glare, "if you were like that I wouldn't have picked you to be my princess. It sounds really boring."

"Aye," Happy agreed, "I like weird Lucy better."

Lucy was about to respond that she wasn't the weird one but thought better of it. There was no use arguing, so she just lay back quietly. After a moment Natsu spoke up again, his voice almost hopeful.

"I could fight them for you."

Lucy laughed out loud. Natsu just looked so silly with the hopeful look on his face. He really did love to fight and Lucy was very tempted to let him have his way. Still, she shook her head.

"Don't worry Natsu I'll figure it out."

Natsu shrugged.

They talked for a while longer but eventually Lucy started to yawn and excused herself. She was more than a little regretful to leave. Natsu turned out to me a very comfortable pillow.

The next day Lucy was extremely annoyed to find that Prince Elfman had returned; he did the same the next day, and the day after that. Soon, Lucy couldn't even leave the cave without running into him.

She might have been flattered if not for the fact that he was only doing it because it was the "manly" thing to do.

On the fifth visit Lucy was very sharp with him. When he didn't return the next day, Lucy hoped she had finally gotten rid of him.

She was in the kitchen mixing up vast quantities of rice, when she heard a knocking at the front of the cave.

"Go Away!" Lucy shouted irritably. "I've told you a hundred times that I don't want to be rescued and I refuse to argue with you anymore."

"I didn't come here to argue with you," said a no-nonsense but highly amused female voice, "I came to meet the person who keeps borrowing my crepe pan. It's not something that people usually ask for."

"Oops," Lucy hastily dried her hands on her apron and went outside to meet her guest.

"Sorry," she said as she came around to the mouth of the cave. "I have been having some problems with princes lately and I thought…"

Lucy trailed off as she got a good look at her visitor for the first time. The woman outside the cave was much taller than Lucy, her fiery red hair hung loosely down her back. She wore a short blue skirt and shiny black boots. Odd though was the thick armor that covered her upper body and the sword that hung from her waist.

Despite her unusual appearance she projected an air of authority that demanded nothing less than complete compliance.

"I understand," she said smiling kindly. "You must be Natsu's princess."

"Yes, I'm Princess Lucy of Heartfillia, but please call me Lucy. What might your name be?"

"My name is Erza Scarlett," Said the redhead grandly, "Natsu and I have been friends for a very long time. Since I was a kid and he was just a nestling. So I thought I'd come take a look at his new princess."

"Oh," suddenly understanding dawned on Lucy, "you're the one Natsu's been borrowing dishes from."

Lucy blinked suddenly.

"But that would mean you're a witch."

"That's right," Erza nodded. "It's not that strange a job, especially around these parts."

"I've never met one before," said Lucy simply. She did not mention the fact that in Heartfillia, witches were considered dangerous, and probably evil, and to be avoided at all costs.

But on the same note people in Heartfillia didn't like dragons much either.

"Would you like to come in for some tea and cake?"

Ezra's eyes lit up at the mention of cake and followed Lucy happily into the cave.

Natsu had left early that morning to hassle some pirates to the south and wouldn't be back until the evening. Even Happy was gone, off to court a female cat that belonged to one of the other dragons. So they had the caves all to themselves.

As Lucy prepared the tea and cake, Erza prowled around, inspecting everything with various levels of curiosity.

She ran a commentary that had Lucy laughing. Deciding she liked Erza very much, Lucy sat down and explained her situation. From the lessons to the endless stream of knight. The story lasted through two cups of tea and several pieces of cake, and ended with Prince Elfman's stubborn insistence on rescuing her. Lucy watched in awe as Ezra devoured one piece of cake after another. She was very glad she was used to making dragon sized portions.

"Well, you'll never get anything done that way," Erza said darkly, cracking her knuckles, "if Natsu won't take care of them then leave it to me."

Lucy waved her hands, startled.

"No, no, I asked Natsu not to fight with them. I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me."

Erza calmed down and nodded somberly at Lucy's proclamation.

"Still, you're lucky that your knights have gone away. Heartfillia is a prosperous kingdom and the chance to get half of it may cause someone to try to rescue you, whether you want it or not."

That hadn't occurred to Lucy and the thought was a little scary.

Seeing the look Erza smiled again.

"Your situation is a little unusual. I've never heard of a princess volunteering to a dragon before." She got a thoughtful look on her face. "Actually, it's a little strange that I haven't heard of it before. A dragon's princess is practically guaranteed a good marriage. You would think it would happen all the time."

"They're probably scared of being eaten." Lucy chuckled, she knew how that felt. "Maybe if I send my parents a letter it might help."

"If what you told me is true," Erza replied taking another bite of cake, "then I doubt it will help. Still, it can't hurt. If you're really worried take a look through Natsu's library. The idiot almost never uses them but he has a large collection of books, maybe you can find something in one of those."

Erza put down her fork, a shrewd look on her face.

"In the meantime we can put up a sign."

Lucy blinked curiously.

"A sign?" she asked curiously, before a slow smile spread across her face. "'Road washed out. Use alternate route.' Something like that?"

"Exactly, it won't stop the really determined ones but it will slow them down."

The two women set to work and soon produced a very large, official looking sign. Erza offered to set it up on her way back to the Enchanted Forest but Lucy declined. The path to the Enchanted Forest was much out of the way and Ezra had already done enough to help.

After saying goodbye to Erza Lucy tucked the sign under her arm and started down the path. At first the path was level and easy but as she turned sharply around a tall boulder, Lucy came to a full stop.

The path narrowed to a thin ledge that sloped steeply upward. No she understood why none of the knights had ridden up to the cave. The ledge was barely wide enough for a person on foot to edge along sideways. Even the world's best rider could not have gotten a horse down it.

With a long suffering sigh Lucy rolled up the sign and stuffed it into her belt. Very carefully she made her way up the slope. It took a long time because Lucy was very careful to make sure it each step would hold before she took another. Lucy was very much aware that there was nothing between her and a long fall.

Lucy was almost to the other side, where the path widened again, when a portion of the ledge disappeared. She yelped in surprise but looked closer suspiciously, there had been no sound of falling rocks and no sign of crumbling.

There was simply a two foot gap that wasn't there before.

She thought for a moment, hoping for a way to get across, but could think of none. A little irritated Lucy turned and prepared to make her way back across the ledge.

To her surprise there was another piece of ledge directly behind her, it was also two feet wide.

Lucy frowned; it was clear now that something very odd was going on. Whatever it was Lucy didn't like it.

"You look like you require some assistance," said a deep voice from above. "May I be of some help?"

Lucy turned her head and saw a man a short distance away, at the top of the ledge. He was tall, with sharp features and a long nose. He did not look terribly old and his inky black hair matched his oddly shaped beard. He wore an ornate cloak along with a dress shirt and an ascot tied in a full Windsor knot.

"Maybe," Lucy said suspiciously. She was sure that the man was a wizard. While Lucy had never met one before she wanted to make sure she was sure of what she was agreeing to before she said anything more. She had been taught by the court magician that wizards were very tricky.

"Who are you?"

"I am the wizard Ivan Dreyar and you must be Natsu's new princess. I hope you're not running away. It's…"

"I know, I know. It's not done." Lucy finished, feeling very annoyed because for once she wasn't doing anything improper. "Yes, I am Princess Lucy."

"I was going to say that it isn't wise to run away from your dragon." Ivan corrected mildly. "I believe it's done all the time."

"I'm not running away. How did you know who I was?"

"Well, I doubt any other charming lady would be wandering so casually through the Path of Silver Ice." Ivan answered, he smiled. "As you can see it is easy to find oneself in difficulties if one is not prepared."

Lucy decided she did not like Ivan Dreyar at all. He reminded her of one of the courtiers of Heartfillia castle. He was a sneaky little man, who gave compliments only when he wanted something and would give advice even when no one wanted it.

Lucy looked hard at Ivan.

"The ledge was here when I started. You wouldn't know what happened to it would you?"

A flash of annoyance crossed Ivan's face. Then he smoothed his face into pleasant politeness and shrugged.

Now Lucy's mind was whirling. It was clear that Ivan had done something to the ledge so that she would ask for his help. The question was why he would want her to think she owed him a favor? Furthermore why would he risk upsetting the dragons by destroying their path?

Unless, he hadn't really destroyed it.

Carefully, Lucy slid out a foot. She rested it gently on the open space and was greatly relieved to find it solid. Step by step she edged across the space, refusing to look down, and finally came triumphantly to the other side.

"Could you move out of my way?" Lucy asked as sweetly as possible.

Ivan looked like he had sucked on a lemon, but did as he was asked.

When her feet were firmly on the path Lucy had to resist giving a sigh of relief. She didn't want Dreyar to know how worried she had been.

"Thank you for the offer of help," Lucy said insincerely, "but as you can see it wasn't needed. Do stop by and visit some time."

"I will," Ivan said, as if her meant it, "and a good day to you Princess Lucy."

And with that he disappeared. Even Lucy was impressed. There was no smoke, no fire, not even a pop. He was simply and suddenly gone. It took a very powerful wizard to vanish so quietly. She still didn't even know what he wanted.

Shaking off the strangeness Lucy decided to put up her sign and return to the cave. Exploring seemed like a bad idea. She hadn't gone two or three steps when a dark shadow passed over her.

An instant later a dragon landed on the path directly in front of her, blocking the path completely. Lucy recognized him immediately as the dragon who had been so against taking her as a princess when she had first arrived.

"I saw the whole thing," the yellow dragon hissed triumphantly. "Running away and talking to a wizard. Just wait until Igneel hears. Natsu will be sorry he didn't let Gajeel eat you and be done with it."

"Good afternoon." Lucy said, figuring to would be best to be polite to a creature as large and toothy as a dragon. Despite this she placed a hand on her hip. "I'm not running away."

"Then what are you doing? Natsu must be very easy-going to let his princess wander all over the mountain."

"I'm putting up a sign to keep the knights away." Lucy snapped, rapidly becoming tired of the yellow dragon's condescending attitude.

"That's stupid," he scoffed, "I have been on patrol all week and I haven't seen or smelled any knights."

Lucy was about to respond that the yellow dragon clearly hadn't been near Natsu's cave, when she noticed a flash.

From around the dragon leapt a dark haired figure with a gleaming sword. The figure placed himself between Lucy and the dragon, his blade pointed outwards. Lucy immediately recognized the dare shoulder blades and placed her head in her hands.

The dragon seemed to bunch up, like a cat preparing to pounce, before springing straight up into the air. Lucy had to cover her eyes with her sleeve to avoid being blinded by the cloud of dust, raised by the flapping of his enormous wings.

"Are you alright Princess Lucy?" Grey asked, checking her over for any sign of injury.

Lucy laughed, touched by his concern.

"I'm fine. That dragon wasn't going to hurt me and just call me Lucy, none of that princess nonsense."

Grey nodded and re-sheathed his sword. Lucy noticed that the blade was entirely clear, like it was made of ice. She was about to ask about it but remembered something else.

"Not that I'm not grateful, but what are you doing here?" Lucy asked, than her gaze turned dark. She pointed her finger sharply at him. "You're not thinking of trying rescue me again are you?"

Grey chuckled and put up his hands in mock surrender.

"I wouldn't dream of it. Icetania is only a few hours walk from here. I was on my way back from a quest when I noticed you. What are you doing here anyway?"

Lucy told him all about Prince Elfman and the plan with the sign. Grey listened to her story and even helped her hang the sign.

"I've met Prince Elfman before," Grey said with a smirk as he helped her hang the sign on a nearby tree, "he can be super annoying."

After they finished Lucy invaded Grey back to the cave for tea. He fervently denied the offer until she brought up the cake she had left over from earlier and the possibility of dinner. His stomach growled noisily in response and he had no choice but to follow.

"Maybe we can find you a shirt too." Lucy remarked as they passed over the ledge, trying to keep her mind off the invisible gaps below her feet.

Grey looked down and groaned, nearly losing his grasp on the wall.

"Not again."

There were no further difficulties and soon Lucy and Grey found themselves chatting over snacks. Despite their unfortunate first meeting Lucy found Grey to a rather entertaining person. Now that he wasn't trying to save her from Natsu Lucy decided they would be good friends.

Grey was in the middle of telling Lucy a very funny story about the king of Icetania and the Duke of Silvranum when a loud noise came from the cave entrance.

"LUCY!" a voice bellowed.

Lucy recognized Natsu's voice and immediately jumped to her feet. She rushed to the front of the caves with Grey not far behind.

Natsu seemed relieved to see her but his eyes immediately narrowed when he caught sight of Grey. Thick black smoke started pouring out of his mouth. Again, Grey stepped in front of Lucy, shielding her from view.

Lucy sighed.

Grey was a nice man but apparently that knight training ran deep. She wished he didn't feel the need to go around trying to protect her when she didn't really need any help. If it wasn't so obvious that he wasn't trying to romance her and was just being genuinely kind she might have kicked him in the shins.

Lucy was about to move forward to stop the foolishness but Grey put one arm out to keep her firmly behind him.

This was apparently a very wrong move because Natsu opened his mouth and roared. In the time it took for Lucy to cover her ears Grey had his sword out and ready.

The two flung themselves outside and the sounds of battle could be heard.

Thinking some words that were so unprincessly that they would make her etiquette teacher faint dead away, Lucy hurried outside to try and stop them.

…

Aha poor Natsu coming home to find his princess with a shirtless knight. I had a little trouble finding a villain so I chose Ivan because he wasn't so scary that he couldn't be sneaky and Jose was too silly for me to take seriously.

In the next chapter Grey and Natsu fight and Natsu holds a dinner party.

Remember to review because it makes me happy and happy me updates more often. TTFN~


	5. In Which a Cat Explains Status

Dealing With Dragons

In Which a Cat Explains Status

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Neither Fairy Tail nor the plot of Dealing with Dragons. It is a very good book though and I would recommend reading it.

Author's Note: I LIIIIVE! I have a whole bunch of excuses as to why I haven't updated recently. Computer crashing, then midterms, then term paper, then finals. To be honest though it's really just good old fashioned writers block. I muscled through it though and now there is some Lucy/Natsu stuff. YAY!

Thank you so much for all the reviews. Frankly that was the only thing that kept me writing this chapter. I love them SOOOOOO much! Any questions or comments are more than welcome but blind adulation is also accepted.

K on with the story!

…

As she reached the mouth of the cave, Lucy recoiled in horror. Unlike most princesses she did not find it at all romantic that two people, or creatures, were trying to murder each other over her. As it was Lucy was completely at a loss as two how to stop them.

Grey's translucent blade glinted in the sun as he swung out again and again at Natsu. The blade itself did little damage to the impenetrable scales but with every strike a circle of ice formed, causing Natsu to cry out in rage.

With a sweep of his massive tail, he sent the knight tumbling into the dust. Grey recovered immediately and continued swinging. Natsu swung out again but this time Grey was prepared. Nimbly he bounced over the appendage, aiming squarely for Natsu's eyes.

Lucy rushed forward; she was unsure of how to help but couldn't watch from the sidelines any longer. She was forced back though as Natsu opened his mouth wide and let loose a huge burst of flames. Instinctively, Grey brought up his sword, using it to guard against the worst of the flames.

Lucy bit her lip nervously. She had to stop them before someone got hurt but there was no way she could get close enough without getting burned. Running back into the cave she searched quickly for something, anything, she could use to protect herself.

The only thing around was the beat up frying pan with the wobbly handle, she had been preparing to throw it out but had never gotten around to it. Looking around desperately she scooped it up and hurried back outside.

Just in time too, because ice coated Grey's arms as he prepped to do his special attack. Lucy knew this because she had been taught how to spot a finishing move during her princess lessons. It was important to know these things so as not to be caught in the cross-fire.

Silently thanking her etiquette teacher, Lucy sprang forward and smacked Grey solidly on the back of the head before he could finish his attack. The ice immediately disappeared as the man slumped to the ground with a groan.

Turning to face Natsu she was just in time to see the oncoming flame. On instinct she brought the frying pan up to protect her face. By some miracle the fire started to spin, spiraling into the pan before disappearing.

'Magic frying pan,' Lucy thought idly as her shaking knees gave way, 'who would have guessed?'

Meanwhile Natsu stood still as a statue, horror clear on his scaly face. He opened and closed his mouth a few times but no sound came out.

"Go inside." Lucy told the stunned dragon, as calmly as possible.

Natsu looked like he was about to argue for a moment but stopped.

"Natsu," Happy squeaked as he returned from wherever he had been hiding, "let do what Lucy says."

After much begging and cajoling, the cat managed to herd Natsu back into the caves.

Seeing one problem taken care of, Lucy turned to the next one. As carefully as she could she gathered Grey's head and placed it in her lap, it being the only viable surface, and set about cleaning his wounds. There were surprisingly few and using torn pieces of her skirt and some water from a bucket outside the cave Lucy had him cleaned up in no time.

"Arg," Grey clutched his head and groaned. "What happened?"

Instead of responding Lucy smacked him on the shoulder and helped him to his feet.

"Ouch, Lucy why did you hit me? How did I end up unconscious? What the hell is going on?"

Lucy sighed, she had to tread carefully. Men often had very delicate egos, especially knights.

"Grey…we're friends right?"

"Sure," Grey shifted, uncomfortable with the change of conversation.

"If you're my friend then you are going to have to accept the fact that I'm Natsu's princess and I like it that way. You can't be attacking him every time you visit because someone is bound to get hurt. Do you understand?"

Grey nodded a sheepish look on his face.

"Good," Lucy said firmly, "because I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.

"I believe you." Grey winced as he touched the lump forming on the back of his head.

Unsheathing his sword he dragged his hand along the blade. Lucy watched, fascinated, as he pressed the newly formed chunk on ice to the back of his skull.

"Well," Grey continued, "I'll definitely rethink my views on helpless damsels."

This startled a laugh out of Lucy and she relaxed. Both Grey and Natsu were fine and hopefully the knight would control himself better next time he visited.

Taking inventory of his bruises Grey decided he was alright to travel. Only after Lucy secured a promise that he would visit for lunch sometime did she let him travel back down the mountain. She didn't even bother offering him a shirt; it was bound to disappear before he got home anyways.

After watching him fade into the distance Lucy sighed and turned back to the cave.

'One down and one to go,' she thought grimly.

Upon entering the cave Lucy found Natsu curled up in the corner of his sleeping cavern. He was attempting to clean his wounds with his long tongue. He was so concentrated on his task that he didn't even notice Lucy watching from the doorway.

Rolling her eyes Lucy went to gather some healing salve and bandages. Re-entering Natsu's room purposefully, she settled calmly to the ground beside his massive paw and set about cleaning his wounds. Natsu in return said nothing, only letting out the occasional grunt of pain as he watched her set about her task.

"I'm surprised to see your still here," grunted Natsu, finally breaking the silence. "Laxus was convinced that you had run off with some knight…or a dark wizard. He seemed a little confused about which it was."

"Laxus is the yellow one right?" Lucy began wrapping a bandage around Natsu's arm. "Super arrogant with a scar on his eye?"

"Ya, that's him."

Feeling irritation bubble up inside of her, Lucy smacked Natsu's newly bandaged arm.

"Ouch." Natsu whined pitifully. "Why did you hit me?"

"Because you're an idiot," Lucy replied hotly. "Clearly this Laxus is just trying to make trouble. I wouldn't go and leave you for some prince, especially without talking to you first. I thought you knew me better than that."

Natsu grimaced and his horns started to glow a soft gold.

"You're right," he said finally, "I guess I over-reacted when I saw that knight in the cave. I can be a bit of a hot head sometimes."

Lucy laughed at the joke and Natsu's expression lightened slightly.

"I understand, but no more attacking Grey alright? He's just a friend. Besides he's really not my type." Standing up, Lucy began cleaning small patches of grey scales where Grey's ice had marked Natsu's scales.

As she cleaned she told him about her day, about Erza visiting and her suggestion to put up a sign. She explained why she went to put up the sign herself, finishing with a detailed description of her encounters with the wizard, the dragon, and the knight.

"So Erza was here?" Natsu asked with a shudder, the scales on his tail rattled against the floor. "I'm glad you talked her out of beating me up. That woman is super scary."

Lucy wondered idly how anyone could beat up a dragon. Upon thinking back to Erza though she concluded that if anyone could do it Erza could.

"What to do about Laxus though?" Natsu continued.

Lucy thought for a minute as she cleaned the last of the grey scales. Picking up another bottle from the floor she began to polish Natsu's scales with a cloth. This caused Natsu to sigh contentedly and close his eyes.

"Why is Laxus making such a big deal anyways," Lucy asked.

"Hmm?" Natsu opened an eye lazily. "I keep forgetting you're not a dragon."

He gave an unguarded smile and Lucy couldn't take offense to it. Though I made her feel a little sad for some reason.

Natsu didn't notice and kept talking.

"How should I explain it?"

"It's all about status." A small voice piped up. Lucy looked up to see Happy hovering cheerfully over her head.

"Really?" Lucy asked curiously as she continued to polish. Natsu, who was enjoying her pampering far too much to be invested in the conversation, had nodded off and was snoring lightly.

Always happy for an audience, Happy settled on the dragon's head where Lucy could hear him as she continued her work.

"Aye sir, firstly dragons aren't actually expected to have a princess. Most choose not to because there are so few to go around and there are certain problems that come with having one."

"Like knights," Lucy grumbled darkly.

"And other things," Happy grinned deviously. "So having a princess has become a minor mark of status among dragons."

"A minor mark?"

Happy began to laugh, a cheeky smile on his face.

"Aye, it's about the same as serving really nice fish at dinner. It shows the other dragons how rich you are but you could do the same thing by serving those expensive cakes with the tasty icing."

"I get it," Lucy snapped, glaring at the cat, "but would you stop comparing me to food? It freaks me out, especially with Laxus talking about letting some dragon named Gajeel eat me."

"Laxus is an idiot," Happy replied in the laid back manner only cats can accomplish, "he thinks that if a princess does something stupid then it reflects on the dragon who is keeping her. He probably wouldn't even care except for the fact that Natsu's father is super important in dragon politics."

"He is?" Lucy almost dropped her cloth in surprise. It seemed almost impossible for someone as goofy as Natsu to be related to some politician.

"Igneel is on the High Council of Dragons along with Makarov and a bunch of others," Happy nodded sagely. "I think Laxus is worried that Natsu would be able to use his father's power to get himself into the council. Which is stupid in a bunch of ways but as I said, Laxus is an idiot. Four of his princesses ran off within the week, one even escaped while he was having a nap. Ever since he has been trying to catch someone else's princess doing something stupid. I bet he's spread the story all over that you've escaped."

"Damn." Lucy muttered, suddenly a thought came to her.

"Natsu, wake up. I have an idea how you can get back at Laxus."

"Wha?" Natsu blinked slowly awake, a long line of drool hanging from his mouth.

"I know how you can get back at Laxus for spreading rumors about you." Lucy clapped her hands gleefully.

"I thought I was just going to fight him." Natsu replied dimly.

Lucy shook her head.

"If you're going to get revenge then you should hit him where it hurts."

"In the ass?" Natsu guessed.

"No," the image caused Lucy to grimace, "in the pride. You should have a dinner party and invite a few dragons over. When they see that I'm still here then he will look like a complete idiot in front of everyone."

Natsu sat silently for a moment, contemplating the idea. Slowly a smile moved across his face and his ivory fangs glinted in the torchlight. Without warning he scooped Lucy up into his claws and started swinging her around.

"You're a genius Lucy."

When he finally placed her back on the ground Lucy's vision was swimming. It took a few moments of staggering for her to regain her balance.

"So we should have the dinner tomorrow night." Natsu began to pace excitedly at the thought of his new prank. "I think I'll invite about six people, including dad. He wouldn't want to miss this."

"You expect me to fix seven dragon sized meals by tomorrow?" Lucy asked incredulously. Her mind was whirling. There was no way she could complete such an impossible task.

Happy laughed as he circled the top of the cave.

"That would be pretty funny to see."

Lucy glared menacingly at the cat but Natsu shook his head.

"No, Erza can lend me her enchanted Pot of Plenty so I should have more than enough for dinner. You just need to make the dessert. The pot makes great food but the desserts suck. Can you handle it?"

Lucy had to think for a minute.

"Not if you want flaming cherries jubilee," she said slowly, "I don't have a big enough pot. I could make two or three batches of chocolate mousse though. If you get the ingredients in the morning it will have plenty of time to set by tomorrow night."

"Great," Natsu was practically glowing with excitement. "You should hurry up and sleep it's going to be a busy day tomorrow."

It wasn't until Natsu had mentioned sleep that Lucy realized how tired she was. It was a problem she had noticed early on, when she had first moved into the caves. It was so hard to keep track of the time when you can't see the sun.

Lucy excused herself from the two and headed for the hot springs. After a quick bath she was ready for bed.

At first she had been worried that the turbulent events of the day would keep her up all night. Lucy had greatly underestimated the stress of the day though, and she fell asleep the minute her head hit the pillow.

She had just enough time for one last thought before she drifted off to sleep.

'I'm meeting Natsu's father tomorrow…I hope he likes me.'

…

Yay for jealous Natsu. I was watching the anime and through my shipping goggles I saw him getting jealous of Dan and it made me squee.

I feel kind of bad because I keep ragging on Elfman. I don't actually hate him…he just annoys me.

So ya next chapter is the dinner party and Lucy meet's Natsu's daddy!

Remember feed the beast. It feeds on reviews and human souls. Which will you choose?


	6. In Which Lucy Is Goosed

Dealing With Dragons

In Which Lucy is Goosed

Disclaimer: As usual I own nothing. Neither Fairy Tail nor the plot of Dealing with Dragons. It is a very good book though and I would recommend reading it.

Author's Note: First of all thank you to an Anonymous guest who informed me it was Laxus not Luxas. I fixed it and reposted.

*Also thank you to another Anonymous guest who informed me that I was spelling Dreyar as Dryer. It is always helpful when people point out my glaring name error and in no way rude. I really appreciate it.

Firstly thank you SO much to all the people who reviewed *makes a note that threatening people's immortal souls is a good way to get reviews*. I appreciate the love so much it makes me squee with happiness. Seriously, it scares my cat.

Apparently a lot of people also wear their shipper goggles hehehe. NaLu for the WIN! I think they MUST be cannon at this point.

KaUiA: I thought about having Igneel as a prankster similar to Natsu but I decided that he would have to have more of a hidden sense of mischief. Him being a politician and all. He just has to be more sneaky about it I guess.

N'yways ON WITH THE STORY!

…

Lucy woke up early the next morning to a rasping sound outside her door. Pulling on her dressing gown she stumbled out into the hall.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes Lucy watched, shocked, as Natsu and another dragon dragged mountains of chocolate and barrels of cream into the cave. Almost immediately she recognized the other dragon. It was the small one that had been in the caves when she had met Natsu.

Apparently during the span since Lucy had last seen the dragon it had chosen a gender. Three short horns sat proudly atop the dragon's scaly head. Her light blue scales shone in the low torch light, sparkling like so many jewels. Lucy had to keep herself from reaching out a hand to touch the dragon's side.

Seeing Lucy's curious stare, the dragon gave what Lucy could only assume was a shy smile. With a quick twitch of her navy tufted tail, the blue dragon departed.

"Bye, Wendy," Natsu called over his massive, scaled shoulder. "See you tonight."

"Do you think this will be enough?" Natsu asked Lucy hesitantly, his head tilted to the side. "You didn't say how much you would need."

"This will be more than enough." Lucy replied, awestruck.

"I bet Lucy could eat all that no problem." Happy smirked slyly.

Lucy didn't even bother to reply as she stared at the pile of ingredients. The enormity of her task finally hitting her.

"I have to get started!" She screamed suddenly, her hands flew to the sides of her head in panic.

Without another word Lucy charged into her room to change into more appropriate clothes.

"What a weirdo." Happy's eyes were even wider than normal as he circled Natsu's head.

Natsu only chuckled cheerfully and ambled off to get ready for his guests to arrive.

This was going to be fun.

…

Lucy spent the rest of the day melting the mountains chocolate and whipping gallons on cream. She also spent an unreasonable amount of time chasing off a certain blue feline, but managed to finish the task.

As the seven servings were set to chill, Lucy found herself feeling very sticky and sweaty, but also very accomplished. Who in Heartfillia could claim that they make enough dessert for a party of dragons?

As she stumbled out of the kitchen Lucy's eyes trailed towards the dining cavern.

Taking a peek inside her jaw dropped. The room had clearly not been used in a while and the place was covered in a thick layer of dust.

With a groan of dismay Lucy marched back into the kitchen and retrieved a bucket of soapy water and several dry rags. Setting down the work she cleaned the entire room, from the smooth stone floor to the massive marble slab that served as a table.

By the end Lucy was extremely sore and tired and wanted nothing more than to take a very long nap.

Catching her reflection in a piece of mirror she quickly rethought this idea. For her and Natsu's plan to work she would need to serve the chocolate mousse herself.

Lucy was not about to appear in front of a groups of dragons, including Natsu's father; in a dirty dress with sweaty straggles of hair that has fallen from her side ponytail sticking to her neck, and a smear of chocolate across her forehead.

So Lucy grabbed a few towels and made her way to the hot spring.

One she was clean Lucy felt much better and had even stopped cursing Natsu with her every spare breath.

After double checking that the mousse was setting properly Lucy went back to her room to try and decide what to wear.

Unfortunately she had little choice. The wardrobe was full of lovely dresses but they were for everyday life. The only fancy dress she had was the one she had arrived in.

Removing the dress from the back of the wardrobe Lucy lay it carefully on her bed. To her horror she found that the hem of the dress had been badly stained by her long walk and was therefore unusable.

She would have to wear one of the everyday dresses.

With a sigh Lucy opened the wardrobe again to search for the nicest of the ordinary clothes. To her surprise, when she opened the door, she was again assaulted by the scent of fresh leaves. Lucy gaped in surprise at the contents of the wardrobe.

It was full of the most beautiful dresses she had ever seen. Some were silk, some were velvet, some were heavy brocade, and some were made of feather light gauze.

"Oh ya," Lucy said aloud, smacking herself in the head. "It's a magic wardrobe."

Immediately Lucy began poking through the gowns. Finally she decided on a simple sleeveless pink dress with a light pink underskirt. There were ruffles, which Lucy normally disliked, but they were subtle and Lucy decided she liked them.

Pulling a pair of matching slippers from one of the drawers she found herself smiling. While the constant primping of the palace had been overwhelming she did like to dress up one in a while. She tied her hair back into a neat bun and even dug her crown out from under her bed, where she had stuffed it in jubilation on her first night in the cave.

As she was getting ready Lucy could hear the sounds of dragon's entering the caves. As they passed her door she had to resist the urge to peek out. The whole plan hinged on her grand entrance to serve the mousse.

When she heard the last of the dragons shuffle into the dining cave Lucy heard a small tap on her door. Outside waited a widely grinning Natsu. He gestured for her to follow and they made their way quietly to the kitchen.

"They don't suspect a thing."

Lucy had to laugh at the childish excitement on Natsu's face.

"They all want to talk about you running away," he continued gleefully, "even Dad is super curious. They won't ask about it though. Something about it being rude."

Natsu snorted, sending a strong smell of burnt caramel.

"You better get back in there before someone notices how long you've been gone." Lucy reminded him, as she removed the mouse from the chillbox.

"Naw," Natsu said, "Happy is entertaining them. They won't even notice I was gone. When it's time for desert I will ring the bell."

"That's the plan," Lucy smiled and busied herself around the kitchen. She was careful not to get her dress dirty though.

Natsu nodded and turned to leave. Suddenly he stopped and headed towards a shelf above the stove. After rummaging around for a moment he pulled out a small object with a grunt.

"Here," he handed Lucy a necklace. It was a large ruby heart with two crystal wings, "I remembered seeing it lying around in here. It matches your dress. "

Turning again Natsu shambled lazily out the door.

Lucy blinked silently for a moment before slowly clasping the necklace around her neck. Natsu had been right. It did match her dress. Reaching up to touch her face, she found her cheeks warm to the touch.

She shook her head vigorously at her own foolishness. Natsu was just being nice; there was no need to get so excited about it.

Clearing her mind of these useless thoughts Lucy stood beside the small oak door that led directly from the kitchen to the dining hall. Nervously she waited for Natsu to ring for her.

Beyond the door she could hear the muffled booming of the dragons but couldn't make out what they were saying.

After what seemed like an eternity the ball rang, summoning Lucy to serve dessert. Carefully she hefted two of the dragon sized servings, they were too big to carry any more than that, and entered the dining cave with her head held high.

She set about serving each guest their mouse. The dragons were settled around the shoulder high slab and Lucy had to be very careful while serving the mouse. Twice she almost dropped the serving dishes on her head.

Fortunately she didn't have to worry about who to serve first. She could tell which dragons were the most important by their places at the table. Again Lucy made a silent apology to her etiquette teacher, who had made her learn all about seating arrangements.

As she set the last serving in front of Natsu one of the other dragons said in a bored but familiar voice.

"I see the rumors are wrong again or did you have to drag her back like Laxus does?"

Lucy turned angrily, ready to give the dragon a piece of her mind, when the old white dragon said.

"Nonsense Gajeel, the child has more sense than that. You shouldn't listen to gossip. Next you'll be chasing that imaginary wizard that Porlyusica been on about."

Lucy recognized the elderly dragon immediately as Makarov.

"It seems like Laxus is stirring up trouble again." The large female at the far end of the table commented calmly. Lucy recognized her from her first day in the cave. "You really should do something about him Makarov."

"I don't believe Natsu has answered my son's question." Boomed a dragon Lucy had never seen before. He was completely silver and his scaled looked more like plate armor then actual scales. "Maybe if you all would stop side tracking the conversation he could."

"That's a bit strong Metalicana," Grandeeny said primly. "Too strong if you ask me."

"I didn't." Metalicana replied blithely, causing Gajeel to snicker.

"Lucy's doing fine." Natsu interrupted lazily. Lucy could see he was enjoying the chaos. "And no Gajeel, I didn't have to drag her anywhere. Unless your princess normally leaves seven servings of chocolate mousse in the kitchen when she runs away? Oh wait you don't have one."

Gajeel's horns glowed a bright gold and he bore his teeth at Natsu. A large red dragon at the other end of the table gave a snuffling laugh. The small sky blue dragon that Lucy had met earlier giggled too but was quickly silenced by a reproachful look from Grandeeny.

"One of these days you're going to go too far." Gajeel snarled.

Natsu, unperturbed as ever, stuck out his long pink tongue.

"You started it."

"Enough," rumbled the red dragon and both Natsu and Gajeel fell grudgingly silent. "What were you saying about Porlyusica and a wizard, Makarov?"

"You haven't heard?" Makarov said, surprised. "She's been raving about it for weeks. Someone snuck into her cave and stole a book from her library. For some reason she's positive a dark wizard was behind it."

"If it wasn't a wizard then who was it?" asked the sky blue dragon, Wendy, as Lucy recalled.

Makarov smiled kindly at the younger dragon.

"It could have been anyone," Makarov reassured her gently, "an elf, a dwarf, even a human. No reason to think it was a wizard just because Porlyusica didn't catch them in the act."

"What book did she lose?" Grandeeny asked, curious.

"What does it matter?" Muttered Metalicana under his breath.

Everyone ignored him.

"Some history book or another," Makarov continued.

"What would a wizard want with a history book?" Natsu asked, as though the concept of wanting a book for any reason was completely foreign to him.

"My thoughts exactly. No, Porlyusica is making a big fuss over a common thief."

"Maybe there was a wizard." Gajeel added, for the first time he looked slightly interested in the conversation. "Hell only knows why they want what they want."

"Don't be foolish Gajeel," Metalicana replied. "No dark wizard would dare come through this part of the mountain. They know what we do to them."

Metalicana grinned wickedly, showing off his many white teeth.

"Actually," Natsu interrupted, "Lucy met one today. About a two minute flight from my cave."

"What! Are you sure?" Gajeel snarled excitedly.

"Great," Metalicana covered his eyes with a massive paw. "Now he's never going to stop talking about it."

"Yes, I'm sure."

Lucy took a step back nervously and eyed both metallic dragons.

"He made two bits of the ledge I was standing on turn invisible so I would think it wasn't safe to keep going."

"That does sound like something a wizard would do." Makarov nodded.

"He said his name was Ivan Dreyar." Lucy added helpfully.

Several of the dragons including Makarov flinched.

"Dreyar?" Gajeel snorted. "Stupid woman, Ivan Dreyar was elected head of the Society of Wizards last year. Why would he be messing with some princess?"

"I'm afraid he's right child." Makarov said gently. "It simply couldn't have been Ivan."

"Maybe it wasn't him." Lucy said calmly, with a shrug. "I've never met him so I wouldn't know, but that's who he said he was."

"It would be pretty funny if it was Dreyar." Gajeel said with a chuckle.

"I don't see why it matters." Metalicana grumbled. "The important thing is that there was a wizard wandering around smack in the middle of our mountains. What are we going to do about it?"

"Tell King Ryu about it," Makarov piped up. "It's his job to deal with these sorts of things."

"What is Ryu going to do about it?" Metalicana grumbled, a faint undercurrent of distain in his voice. "He wouldn't use the King's Crystal for anything less than a full fledged war."

"He could lodge a formal complaint with the Society of Wizards." Makarov answered promptly. "That's the proper way to do it."

"He'd probably just set up some stupid committee," Gajeel smiled fiercely. "I say we just eat any dark wizards we see."

"I don't think we should do anything until we know what the wizard wanted in the first place." Grandeeny cast a sidelong glance at Lucy. "It could be important."

"Well, we have to do something," Metalicana snapped irritably, his claws clashing against the stone table. "We can't just have wizards wandering in and out whenever they chose. We'll lose half our magic before we even know it."

"Not to mention dragons sneezing themselves to death because of those bloody staffs." Makarov added. He sneezed suddenly, as if to further his point, and it narrowly missed setting the hem of Lucy's dress on fire.

The dragons started to argue amongst themselves. It reminded Lucy of how her father's advisors acted. They all agreed that something needed to be done but they each had their own idea as to how to go about it.

The only three not participating were Natsu, Wendy, and the large red dragon at the end of the table. This confused Lucy a bit since Natsu was the one who started the whole discussion in the first place and he was never one to miss out on a fight.

Still she was relieved that he wasn't participating. The other dragons were getting louder and louder. As they did so their grip on their magic seemed to slip a bit. Metalicana and Gajeel were starting to grow spikes, small tornados were forming by Grandeeny's tail, and Makarov was growing larger by the second.

Lucy prayed that someone would stop this before it got any more out of hand.

"Thanks for the advice." Natsu said finally, cutting through the argument. "I'll think about it before I decide what to do."

The other dragon went still and Lucy covered her eyes with her hand. So much for diplomacy.

"What do you mean by that?" Gajeel snapped.

"Well, Lucy is my princess so it's my choice whether to report it to the king or whatever else I want to do."

None of the dragons seemed to like this idea. In unison they turned and looked at the red dragon. He shrugged his massive shoulders calmly in response. To Lucy's surprise none of the dragon's argued with Natsu, though Gajeel did make some half-hearted grumbles.

Soon the conversation turned and Natsu, seeing his guest had calmed down, gave the signal for the empty mousse dishes to be carried away. Lucy didn't mind much since the new conversation was not near as interesting. She returned the empty dishes back to the kitchen and set about cleaning up the mess she had made.

While she worked, Lucy began to turn over the conversation in the dining cave in her head. She was so deep in thought that by the time she was finished she didn't even notice that the other dragons had left. As she exited the kitchen, her cleaning finally finished, Lucy found herself face to face with a large red snout.

With a yelp she jumped backwards, bumping into the large oak door.

"You were right son," the red dragon chuckled, "she is quite amusing."

"Claws off old man," Natsu replied playfully. "She's my princess."

He turned to face Lucy, a large smile on his face.

"Lucy this is my dad Igneel. Dad this is Princess Lucy of Heartfillia but we just call her Lucy."

"It is a pleasure to meet you Lucy."

Igneel bobbed his head in a dragonish bow, to which Lucy replied with a curtsy.

"Yah, yah, enough with the manners." Natsu broke in. "What did you think of the dinner Dad?"

"Did I bring you up in a barn instead of a cave?" Igneel teased. "The food was wonderful and the show was quite entertaining. I thought Metalicana head was going to explode when you told him it was your choice to tell the king."

Both Natsu and Igneel chuckled in amusement.

"Frankly Miss," Igneel addressed Lucy again, "I'm impressed with the way you handled yourself. Most princesses would have fainted dead away if they had to face four angry dragons."

"Tch, Lucy ain't one of those wimpy princesses. She's way tougher then that."

Lucy flushed at the praise.

"Ah those were the days." Igneel smiled nostalgically. "I used to keep princesses when I was young. They were so funny when they got their feathers ruffled."

Seemingly out of nowhere a tail snapped Lucy in the behind, causing her to yelp in a most unladylike manner. Rubbing the abused flesh with her hand Lucy turned a rather fierce glare on the snickering Igneel.

"Yes, just like that."

"Hey Dad," Natsu tried to keep a serious face but Lucy could see the corners of his mouth twitching in amusement. "I said claws off, that means tails too."

Igneel held his claws up in mock surrender.

"I understand. Well, as fun as this was I must be going. It was lovely to meet you Lucy; I hope you'll keep my son from getting into too much trouble."

With a wink he turned and sauntered out of the front entrance.

Natsu and Lucy exchanged a curious look before shrugging. Whatever the species parents could still be very strange.

…

Tada I hope you like it. I added a bit more NaLu to this chapter and boy did it feel good. So there will be more to come in the next chapter.

Remember reviews = me knowing people are actually reading the story and want me to continue. Plus they are the brown sugar on my peanut butter sandwich. K TTFN~


	7. In Which Lucy Takes a Bath

Dealing With Dragons

In Which Lucy Takes a Bath

Disclaimer: As usual I own nothing. Neither Fairy Tail nor the plot of Dealing with Dragons. It is a very good book though and I would recommend reading it.

Author's Note: Firstly, a bajillion tanks to my reviewers. I always love to hear that people enjoy my story. Well it would be pretty silly if I thought no one read my story and kept writing anyways wouldn't it? So thank you, thank you, thank you for the reviews.

There were several people who requested more Lucy/Natsu moments so I tried to oblige. As for Natsu blushing he and another dragon have done so in other chapters but it may be a bit more obvious in this one.

I have been watching and reading the Manga and Anime and I have come to the conclusion that Lucy is Fairy Tail's version of Princess Peach. That girl gets kidnapped always, or is some other sort of world ending thingy. Seriously though if she really dies in the manga I will be b**** pissed.

Thanks to Emcronia who pointed out a few of my spelling errors in chapter 6 for me. Sometimes spell-check doesn't catch these things.

So on with the story.

…

Natsu and Happy slept in late the next morning. This wasn't unusual but Lucy was worried that he would leave before she got a chance to talk to him about the night before.

As a result she spent the rest of the morning keeping an ear out for any signs of draconian awakening. As she waited Lucy prepared breakfast for herself and her companions, she knew Natsu would be hungry when he finally woke up. She hoped that he would be in a chattier mood if plied with food.

By the time Lucy had finished eating and tidying up, Natsu was still lay abed. With a growl of frustration she marched into the treasure room and set to work.

Soon she was drawn into the relaxing repetition of her task. Diligently she made her way through a large pile of potion bottles, carefully sorting the labeled and unlabeled ones into separate piles.

Unfortunately as she cleaned Lucy grabbed one particular bottle with a very loose lid. As she lifted it, the lid came off entirely, covering Lucy's lap in a faint mauve liquid. A quick check of the label relieved any worry from Lucy's mind. The bottle was filled with Emilan Vein, a type of honey from the Emilan flower. It was harmless but very sticky.

With a sigh she gathered up the bottles she had sorted and placed the labeled ones on the shelf. It was time for a bath, Lucy decided happily as she gathered the necessary items.

Hopefully she wouldn't miss Natsu while she was bathing, but it was a risk she was willing to take.

Lucy spent a moment staring at the wooden door to the hot springs. After a moment of indecision she stripped the sticky fabric from her body and wrapped a towel around herself like a short dress. The dress was going to have to be thrown out and since had brought a chance of clothes there was no reason to drag it inside with her.

Arms full of bottles of soaps and lotions, Lucy made her way into the softly lit hot spring. Her body was weary from yesterday's strain but the soothing humidity in the air had already started to work its magic.

"Hey look, Lucy's here too."

A squeaky voice caused Lucy to jump, nearly making her drop her bottles. Glancing up she found a familiar blue shape circling the air above her head.

As she turned to face forward Lucy sent up a silent prayer that it was only the cat in the room. Unfortunately her prayer was in vain as she caught sight of the hulking black form that was Natsu.

Lucy realized that she had two options. She could either turn and walk out of the bathing room, or she could continue with her bathing plans.

Suddenly the sensible part of Lucy's brain, the part that had temporarily frozen in shock, piped up. Why should she worry about bathing with a cat and a dragon? They were totally different species. She was in a towel anyways and even if she wasn't she had nothing they would be interested in.

With this thought in mind Lucy sauntered over to the edge of the spring. Arranging her bottles on the edge, Lucy slipped into the water with a happy groan.

Glancing up she found Natsu staring at her, a confused look on his face. His horn's emanated a bright gold glow that lit the darkened corners of the room. Lucy checked to see that nothing was showing that shouldn't be, but her towel was firmly in place.

"So," Lucy said finally, uncomfortable with the silence, "what was that dragon Metalicana talking about last night? Something about a King's Crystal?"

Natsu blinked, as though just waking up.

"Oh, that's one of the magical items that belong to the king of the dragons."

"Well Metalicana seemed to think it was pretty powerful." Lucy said as she rubbed some soap into her hair. "What does it do?"

"The Crystal shows stuff that's going on at different times and places." Natsu said nonchalantly as he cleaned one of his claws.

Lucy's eyes widened at the prospect.

"Like a crystal ball? Then why wouldn't he want to use it?"

Natsu shrugged.

"King Ryu is a stubborn old geezer. Using the King's Crystal is kind of hard and it takes a lot of energy. As much as I hate to admit it Metalicana was right. Ryu isn't going to use it unless we have a lot more evidence then we do now."

As she rinsed the soap from her hair Lucy thought more deeply on the conversation from the night before.

"Everyone was really upset when I mentioned the wizard." Lucy said thoughtfully. "Are they worried he was trying to steal the King's Crystal? Was that what Metalicana meant when he said you were going to lose half your magic before you know it? I never heard of wizards stealing magic rings and swords."

Natsu gave one of his snuffling chuckles.

"Wizards don't steal stuff, they steal magic. That's where they get their power from."

"How can they steal magic?" Lucy asked sceptically.

She rinsed the last of the soap from her hair and popped open another bottle. Pouring a small amount of liquid into her palm Lucy set about washing her arms and face with the floral scented liquid.

"It's those damn staffs they carry," Natsu grunted gruffly. "They suck the magic out of whatever is close by. Which is why they hang around the Mountains of Morning and the Enchanted Forest. More magic to soak up."

"What if someone stole their staff?" Lucy replied thoughtfully, switching arms.

"Well, he couldn't do any magic till he got it back. If the wizard's not holding onto the staff then it won't suck up any magic."

"I can see why you wouldn't want them wandering around your mountain." Lucy nodded sagely.

"Do you?" Natsu asked seriously. He stared at her with his head tilted slightly to the side. Lucy found herself shrinking slightly under his intense stare.

"Do you know what it feels like to have your magic forcefully sucked out of you?"

"No I suppose not."

Natsu finally looked away and Lucy found herself able to breathe again.

"That's why King Ryu made that deal with the head of the Society of Wizard. Those idiots stay out of our parts of the mountain and they are allowed some access to the Caves of Fire and Night."

Lucy nodded in understanding. She had heard the Caves of Fire and Night mentioned before but had never seen them herself. She wondered what they looked like. As she tried to imagine the place Lucy began to wash her legs.

To her surprise she found that they had more muscle on them then when she had first arrived. Must have been from all the lifting and cleaning.

"Problem is," Lucy looked up to find Natsu looking away, a scowl on his scaly face, "Ryu is getting old and forgets things. Now there are wizards showing up in all sorts of places they aren't supposed to."

"Like that wizard Ivan?"

Natsu grunted and a small flame poofed from his mouth.

"I wonder what he really wanted?" Lucy asked thoughtfully. "Do you think he'll come back like he said he would?"

"If he does, then I'll take care of him." Natsu snapped his teeth dangerously.

There was an angry glint in his eye and his claws made a scratching sound against the stone floor of the hot spring as he flexed them.

"Oh, stop that." Lucy snapped, nervous at the show of aggression. "If he's as tricky as I think he is then he'll come when you're not here."

"Then act stupid," Happy chirped, causing Lucy to jump. She had forgotten he was there.

Natsu brightened at the suggestion and nodded enthusiastically.

"Yah, if you act like a normal dumb princess then maybe he will let his guard down and you can trick him into telling you what he wants. You're really smart so I bet you could do it."

The innocent smile Natsu sent Lucy caused her to relax. She very much preferred this Natsu to angry Natsu.

"Alright, I'm done." Lucy stretched happily. Though the hot spring felt wonderful if she stayed in any longer she would get all wrinkly. "Do you need any help before I go?"

Natsu shook his head but Happy chimed in helpfully.

"There is a spot on his neck, behind his right horn, that he can't reach by himself. He always makes me get it but I don't want to get wet."

Natsu glared at the feline but eventually nodded.

Clambering out of the water Lucy walked around the edge of the hot spring to stand beside the dragon's massive form. Carefully she climbed onto one of the small boulders but Natsu still had to lower his head so she could reach.

Grabbing the brush that Happy held out to her, Lucy set about scrubbing the aforementioned spot. She could see why it would be annoying. The steady golden glow from his horns made the afflicted area easy to see. The scales on top were a light grey and fell away easily as she scrubbed.

The last patch as just out of her reach so Lucy pressed herself against his side as firmly as she could. Lucy felt him twitch and heard his claws rasp on the floor again.

Climbing down carefully Lucy tossed the brush back on the floor.

"There we go." She said cheerfully. "Feel better?"

"Yah, much better."

There was a little too much tooth in Natsu's smile but Lucy shrugged it off. She caught sight of Natsu glaring at Happy as she turned to leave and shook her head.

They were so weird.

Later Natsu went off to inspect the ledge where Lucy had seen Ivan, to see if the two pieces were still invisible. Lucy decided it was as good a time as any to peruse the many books the library held.

The way some of the dragons had behaved the night before had made Lucy considerably nervous. So she decided to see if there was a spell to make her impervious to dragon magic. She hadn't realized that when a dragon lost his or her temper that they also lost control of their powers.

Not that she planned to make any of the dragons angry on purpose but, well…accidents happen. The dragons had been too annoyed to be careful and she didn't want to get hurt by accident, no matter how sorry the dragon was after.

At first Lucy didn't have much luck. She hadn't had a lot of free time to do much organizing in the library. Clearly Natsu hadn't used it in a while and most of the books and scrolls lay in hap-hazard, dusty piles. Many had fallen onto the floor and there were spiders everywhere.

She shivered as one scuttled dangerously close to her foot.

Lucy realized that if she wanted to find anything she was going to have to do some more cleaning first. With a sigh she went to get a bucket of water and some cloths for washing and dusting. She also grabbed a handkerchief to tie over her hair.

Then Lucy set to work. For hours she dusted books and manuscripts, whipped down the dirty bookshelves, and putting the books back on them when they were dry.

By the end she had found two books and five old scrolls that looked like they would be of interesting. She set them on top of one of the few tables scattered around library where she could look at them later.

Lucy had just pulled a small pile of yellowed pages out from behind the second to last bookshelf when she heard someone calling from outside.

"Now what?" Lucy grumbled

She set the papers on the table along with the rest of the books she was planning to look at later, and stalked off towards the entrance.

As she rounded the corner to the front entrance she caught sight of a figure dressed in a gown that appeared to be embroidered with row upon row of tiny pearls.

As she got closer Lucy heard a familiar voice call out to her.

"Lucy-nee-chan!"

The blue hair really should have been a dead giveaway, Lucy thought retrospectively.

"Levy-chan."

…

OMG bath time! Also Levy shows up. I hope you guys liked this chapter and remember review mixed up is viewer. The more viewers the faster chapters go up. Lotsa love TTFN~


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